Avs bite Ice Dogs in sweep

PALMER — It’s difficult to outrun an Avalanche once it gets rolling.

That’s the hard lesson North American Hockey League West-leading Fairbanks learned Saturday when the Alaska Avalanche buried the Ice Dogs 5-4 to complete a three-game sweep of the defending NAHL champs. The win was the seventh straight for the Avs, who at 7-0-1 remain unbeaten on their home ice at the MTA Events Center. Sweeping the ice dogs also elevated Alaska to second in the NAHL West standings with 19 points, just four points behind Fairbanks at 23. Wins Thursday, Friday and Saturday closed what had been a 10-point gap between the teams.

“The points were huge for us, there’s no question about that,” said Avs head coach Corey Millen. “They were a monumental six points and hopefully we can build on that and continue to climb the ladder.”

Staying true to its team hustle philosophy, five players scored for the Avs on Saturday, while goaltender Nick Kulmanovsky returned from injury to stop 42 of the 46 shots Fairbanks would put on net. In fact, the Ice Dogs were aggressive on offense, outshooting Alaska 46-25 for the game.

“Nick played well, had a lot of work,” Millen said. “They had 10 power plays, so he certainly had some work. I thought he had a couple pucks he would probably like to have back, but he battled and found a way to win a game.”

The difference came down to special teams play, where the Avs tallied two power play goals on five attempts while shutting down the Ice Dogs, who went 1 for 10 with the advantage.

“We try to stay out of the penalty box, but we didn’t do a great job with that,” Millen said. We try to do some simple things, and our penalty kill only game up one out of 10, so that’s not bad.”

Fairbanks found the scoreboard first in the first period when Alex Vazquez netting a puck unassisted just over four minutes into the game. It would remain 1-0 Fairbanks until the 16:49 mark, when Connor Wright scored unassisted on a power play for the Avs.

Coming out of the first intermission, Fairbanks had the jump, breaking the tie on a Michael Preston goal just 47 seconds into the second period. Teammate Pavlo Padakin followed up about three minutes later to put the Ice Dogs up 3-1.

The power play would again prove pivotal for Alaska when Codey Hansen scored off a Wright assist, then at full strength 70 seconds later Ryan Dau tied the game at 3-3.

That momentum would carry over into the final period for the Avalanche. Gage Christianson would score on another Wright assist at the 11:28 mark, and Kevin Novakovich provided what would prove to be the game-winner a little less than two-minutes later. That capped a stretch from the middle of the second period to the middle of the third where the Avalanche outscored the Ice Dogs 4-0.

Fairbanks would cut the lead with less than four minutes remaining on a Jakob Romo goal.

“We had just given up a five-on-three goal and we responded pretty well,” Millen said of that stretch. “We got in a fight and I think that sparked the guys up and I was pleased with how we responded when we were down by two.”

The challenge for the Avalanche now is to remain focused and mentally prepared to continue winning, Millen said.

“We had a good weekend, no question, but we can’t let up,” he said. “They’re still kids, so it’s somewhat of a challenge, but we have to put some new challenges for them on a nightly basis to keep them on track. We’ll see how mentally focused we can be when we go against Wenatchee.”

The Avs will look to continue their unbeaten streak at home tonight when they host Wenatchee for the first of a four-game series. The puck drops at 7 p.m. tonight and Wednesday, and at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

Contact Greg Johnson at greg.johnson@frontiersman.com or 352-2269.